UFC 124 takes place Dec. 11 at Montreal’s Bell Centre and features a welterweight title fight between reigning champ Georges St-Pierre and Josh Koscheck, who also served as coaches on “The Ultimate Fighter 12.”

It is unknown whether MacDonald vs. Natal will be shown on the televised portion of the pay-per-view event.

MacDonald is still on the mend after suffering a broken ankle in his most recent fight, a short-notice return to the octagon at UFC 113 in which he met John Salter as a replacement for originally scheduled opponents Nick Catone and David Loiseau.

“The Athlete” was chugging along in the fight’s first round when his foot got stuck on a decal inside the octagon as Salter took him to the mat. MacDonald’s leg bent gruesomely, and the fight was immediately stopped as it became clear he had suffered a serious leg injury.

In July, MacDonald told MMAjunkie.com that he had been cleared to train and expected a return to action in December. Doctors initially told him he may suffer permanent damage to his leg as a result of the freak injury.

Thus, MacDonald sat on the fence about a quick return.

“As a fighter, I’m obviously eager to get back in there, and from a financial standpoint, I’ve been laid off for a while, and I’d like to get back to fighting and making some money,” he said. “But at this point in my career, especially since I just signed a new contract with the UFC and then the injury happened – and regardless of how the fight was going it was still considered a loss – it’s important for me to be 100 percent when I return to the UFC.”

In his first UFC stint, MacDonald racked up three “Submission of the Night” awards and one “Knockout of the Night” bonus in 10 appearances. He burst onto the scene in late 2006 with back-to-back submission wins over former Team Quest teammates Ed Herman and Chris Leben and eventually posted a 5-5 record.

Natal, a protege of MMA royalty Renzo Gracie, met disappointment in his octagon debut when he took on Rich Attonito at UFC Fight Night 22 and was outpointed by “The Ultimate Fighter 11″ veteran. The loss snapped a two-fight win streak in regional competition.

Natal’s teammate, Ricardo Almeida, is likely to fight alongside him on the Dec. 11 event as Almeida is penciled in for a meeting with Canadian welterweight T.J. Grant.

UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey is probably the greatest female fighter on the planet, which is a tremendous feat. So why are we seemingly so obsessed with arguing about whether she could beat up men?